McCain gives up

On the heals of the McCain campaign pulling out of Michigan, a state ripe for the taking, it appears that McCain refuses to go nuclear on the Fannie Mae-Obamunists connection.

From The Weekly Standard

I understand that he didn't want to get overly partisan while a delicate measure he thought was necessary was just barely making it through both houses of Congress. But there's no excuse for letting a false narrative lie, and letting Obama and Biden continue to lie about the roots of this crisis.

It was not simply Wall Street greed that caused this problem, but government intervention that incentivized self-interested industries to offer and buy up high-risk loans they thought were backed by a government promise because they were backed by government-sponsored entities. If the American public gets only one side of this argument, the free market is in some serious trouble. There are plenty of respectful (even bipartisan) ways to articulate this, and Bill Clinton is the guide for the message.

And, yet it sounds like McCain is unwilling to go there. The financial crisis is what has driven his numbers down; a little distancing from the root causes of that crisis, and placing blame where it belongs, would be helpful.

Nope, that is not going to happen Why not? 1) It is a complicated argument, and McCain is not good at making complicated arguments, not even about earmarks. (Note, additionally, his lack of defense of the war in Iraq during his debate with Obama. Amazing.)

2) There is a racial component to criticism of the Community Reinvestment Act that can make it sound like you are scapegoating minorities for Wall Street's problems.

3) The campaign believes McCain's time is better spent talking about taxes and energy and healthcare. Really.

Really? This is the perfect illustration of McCain as prescient reformer while Obama is nothing but petulant rhetoric, and it happens to distinguish his position from Obama's on the most important issue of the day.

I realize the campaign would like this to just go away, but I don't think that's going to happen. Repeating the same talking points as the Obama camp about Wall Street does not help close the gap on economic issues. The truth just might.

McCain needs to decide this weekend whether he wants to be a collegial senator during an Obama administration or does he want to be president of the USA.

Running for the presidency is the NFL and McCain is trying to play without hurting someone or himself; always a big mistake.

Look, this is whole issue is mold that needs light shined on it. Even if he exploits this issue and loses the election, the American people deserve to be educated on the government extortion of financial institutions that created this mess.

He owes it to his party so they have an effective argument for the next socialist intrusion on American liberties.

He owes it to Sarah Palin, who has suffered some horrendous character assassinations to support this nomination.

Finally, he owes it to himself. He got his ass kicked by Bush eight years ago and he comes back to let himself be flogged by the Obamunists. You'd think he'd have more honor than that.

His handling of this issue is exactly why conservatives like myself hate the republican party. If you're not willing to fight on a principle, you're as worthless as an empty Spam can.

Now, lead follow or get out of the way and let Palin take over.